New York City Education Subcommittee Updates

New York City Education Subcommittee updates

FELDER TO STATE BOARD OF REGENTS CHANCELLOR TISCH: MORE MUST BE DONE TO HELP LEARNING DISABLED STUDENTS SUCCEED

Senator Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn), Chairman of the New York City Education Subcommittee, and Senator John Flanagan (2nd Senate District), Chairman of the New York State Senate Standing Committee on Education, convened an education hearing in New York City this week to review the impact and effectiveness of recent state education reforms. The “Regents Reform Agenda: ‘Assessing’ Our Progress” is the fourth of five Senate Education Committee hearings being held throughout the state.

Early on in the hearing, Senator Felder received applause from the standing-room only audience for his comments to Chancellor Tisch, telling her that children are not robots and that something has to be done to address the needs of the thousands of children who will never prove proficient under the new Common Core Standards.

Senator Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn), a first-term Senator and Chair of the Subcommittee on New York City Education, had two bills signed into law last Thursday by Governor Cuomo.

“It is extremely gratifying that Governor Cuomo saw the necessity for and value of these bills,” said Senator Felder. “I am thankful to my colleagues and to all those who worked behind the scenes to help make these bills a reality.”

The first of Senator Felder’s bills, S5730-2013, excludes Saturdays from being considered a business day for purposes of responding to violations for defective motor vehicle equipment.

Previously, the law encouraged timely repairs by offering a full waiver of the fine if repairs were made within one business day, excluding Sundays and federal holidays. This meant that a Sabbath-observant individual who received a summons late Friday afternoon, and could not make the necessary repairs until Sunday, was unable to take advantage of the grace period. Senator Felder’s measure remedies this oversight.

“This legislation levels the playing field and allows all New Yorkers to benefit equally from the grace period,” Senator Felder said. “Sabbath-observant New Yorkers no longer have to choose between their religious observance and the dismissal of a ticket.”